Ventilating spacer



Oct 22, 1963 s; P. CRANE ETAL 3,107,368

VENTILATING SPACER Filed May 6, 1960 FOLDING 23 JamuelPIN @Eggs BY Stephenlfent Mms United States Patent O 3,107,368 VENTILATING SPACER Samuel P. Crane, 1 Warwick Road, Great Neck, N.Y., and Stephen D. Kent, 567 Liberty St., Newburgh, N.Y. Filed May 6, 1960, Ser. No. 27,416 3 Claims. (Cl. 5-347) This invention relates to ventilated seat spacers or cushions having at lleast one open mesh cover sheet and relates particularly -to the means enclosing and binding the marginal edge portions of the sheets.

In ventilated spacers or cushions for seats, as now used in automobiles, there is usually employed a coiled wire unit or inner spring unit. The unit is enclosed in a casing comprising a top or front sheet and a bottom or rear sheet, one or both of which are of a coarse open mesh fabric in which the openings between the warp and weft threads are substantially large-r than the diameter of the threads so as to attain adequate ventilation. Because ott the relatively large size of the openings, the warp and weft threads are not distorted or mutually interengaged :frictionally at the intersections thereof as much as closely Woven fabrics and hence are quite likely to become displaced relatively to each other under stress. Furthermore, the marginal portions or the open mesh sheets, when cut to size, do not have any selvedge and have raw edges tending to ravel. Such portions are therefore brought together beyond the inner coiled unit and are `enclosed within and stitched to a binding tape to finish the edges of the spacer.

Ditliculty has been experienced, however, with the spacers so inished Ifor the reason that the stitching frequently fails to hold the threads in place permanently 4within the edge binding. That is, the stitching does not engage well enough one set of threads which enter into the edge binding because of the relatively large spaces between the threads as compared to the thread diameter. The stitches frequently miss the threads and do not prevent such threads from pulling out longitudinally trom the binding under tension. Nor is the other set or weft threads adequately held against displacement within the binding or relatively to the warp threads either by the stitching or binding or by the friction thereof against the Warp threads.

Moreover, in the manufacture of the spacer, when the casing sheets are precut in advance of assembly on the assumption that the edges would register within the binding, it has been found that such sheets are distorted unrcontrolledly and are spread apart by the relatively bulky inner unit so that the corresponding edges of the sheets fail to register and one -sheet may extend past the other in some areas and terminate short of the other sheet in other areas, thereby narrowing the marginal areas of at least one sheet enclosed and held within the binding and rendering the thus shortened marginal threads or thread ends of the sheets even more likely to pull out of the binding.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of a spacer in which the edges of both sheets have been trimmed simultaneously after the sheets have been superimposed on each other, stitched together at an intermediate transverse hinge line .and the inner spacer units inserted therebetween, one on each side of the hinge line,

and in ywhich spacer adhesive is deposited intermittently at longitudinally spaced apart narrow areas between the raw edges of the sheets and the line where the binding is to be stitched and in such positions that the needle does not touch the adhesive, the binding tape being then folded about the trimmed and lglued marginal edges, the folded tape bein-g stitched close to the inner edges thereof and the adhesive subjected to pressure to spread it through the edge portions of the sheets after it has passed the needle.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a machine-nished Ventilating cushion or spacer having an inexpensive open mesh casing for inner spacer units, the edges of which casing are adhesively secured directly together and to the binding as Well as being sewn to the binding, -without the need for relatively expensive reinforcing strips, the threads of the sheets within the binding being also secured together at the intersections thereof against relative displacement and against Withdrawal from the bin-ding.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawings, in which FIG. l is an elevational vie-w of a sewing machine showin g the folding and gluing attachment secured thereto for machine-inishing the marginal portions of the spacer.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary partial vertical sectional View and partial side elevational view of the attachment and of the cooperatin-g parts of the machine.

FIG. 3 is a Afragmentary top plan view of the presser foot showing the adhesive dispenser carried thereby and the end of the folder fitted into a recess therein.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical fragmentary top plan view of the edge portion of an open mesh sheet indicating the various operations of trimming, gluing, folding and stitching being performed simultaneously as the edge portion of the spacer is fed through the machine.

FIG. 5 is a sectional View of the bound and glued edge portion fof the finished spacer.

In carrying out the invention, it is intended that a folding and gluing attachment be applied to a sewing machine 10 of any well known type having a suitable trimming knife 11, a reciprocating needle bar as l2 carrying a -needle 13 and suitable work-feeding mechanism 14 operating in the opening 1'5 of the throat plate 16 and cooperating with a suitable presser foot to advance the work continuously. It is also intended that the attachment operate to apply adhesive to the sheets in advance of the folding of the tape and the stitching thereof and after the trimming of the sheets, and that the adhesive preferably be notapplied continuously, but interruptedly or intermittently, to avoid the possibility of t-he accumulation of an excess which might enter into and ultimately cause stoppage of the stitching mechanism.

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the Ventilating spacer to which the invention is directed, is of the type disclosed in the Crane Patent No. 2,801,681 and comprises the front open mesh sheet Zti and the rear sheet 21 which may also be of open mesh fabric if desired or of other material. Between the sheets is arranged the inner spacer units 22 each comprising intersecting rows of coiled wire wound around a border wire. The sheets 20 and 21 are long enough to form a back portion 17 and a seat portion 18 (FIG. 4). The transverse line of `stitching 19 is made in the hinging area of the sheets and holds them together while a suitable unit 22 is inserted between the sheets above said stitching to'fform the back, a similar unit being inserted below the hinge line to form the seat.

' The -marginal portions of the sheets are enclosed Within the folded `edge binding tape 2.3i, While the line of stitching 24 passes through the two sheets and the binding. Adhesive as 25 `of any suitable type such as mucilage or the like, preferably of rather viscous consistency, penetrates the edge portions of the sheets, covers the threads within the binding tape as well as the inner face of the tape and secures the threads of each sheet to the intersecting threads thereof, also to the adjacent threads of the other sheet and to the adjacent face of the tape, thereby cooperating with the edge stitching to prevent the threads from pulling w out of the binding when substantial stress is applied to the sheets.

In the form of the mechanism shown, the recess 27 is made in the modified presser foot 23 for the reception of the discharge end 29 of the folder 30 which folds the binding tape 23. A hole 32 is also made in the foot in front of the folder for the reception of the reduced or shouldered end portion 33 of the outer hollow cylinder 34 of the dispenser for adhesive, which is thereby attached to the presser foot and dispenses adhesive through said hole and on to the work during the operation of the machine. The attachment, which cooperates with the presser foot and with the usual sewing machine elements, comprises the attaching plate 35 adapted to rest on the bed 36 of the machine at the right of the foot 23 as viewed in FIG. l and to be removably attached to the bed Vas by the screws 37 (FIG. 2). The attachment plate 35 is wide enough to support the upstanding bracket 38 for the shaft 39 of the ratchet wheel 413, and at its front edge is suitably secured to the left end of the folder (FIG. 2) as by welding. Said ratchet wheel is part of the reduction gearing interposed between the main shaft of the sewing machine and the adhesive dispenser to attain timed deposition intermittently of the adhesive. The remaining part of the gearing will be described hereafter.

The trimmer arm 41 is pivoted to the machine bed at one end 42 `and is oscillated by the link 43 secured to the vertically reciprocating slide 44, which in turn is reciprocated by a suitable crank or cam on the main shaft, not shown. Adjacent the ratchet wheel is the pawl bracket 45 secured to the arm 41 and reciprocating therewith. Said bracket carries the trimming knife 11 and also pivotally supports the pawl 46 pressed by the spring 47 into engagement with the ratchet wheel whereby each oscillation of the arm 41 rotates the ratchet wheel through a predetermined angle. At the same time, each such oscillation vertically reciprocates the trimming knife 11 so that the horizontal edge 48 thereof coacts with the edge of the throat plate 16 to trim the material of both sheets projecting over the edge of said plate thereby to create precisely registering edges on the sheets after trimming in spite of the bulging effect of the inner units.

Means are provided for preferably intermittently depositing near the trimmed edges and on to the open mesh fabric inserted under the presser foot, a globule or a relatively short and initially narrow line of adhesive 25 after each predetermined number of stitches made by the needle 13 or after a number of oscillations of the arm 41. In addition to the ratchet wheel 4t) constituting part of the reduction gearing, and in addition to the dispensing cylinder 34, said means comprises the larcuate wedge cam 50 secured to a face of the ratchet wheel and adapted to engage the outer end of the pin 51 which projects through a helically shaped slot S2 in the wall of the hollow cylinder 34. The inner end of said pin 51 is secured to the spring-pressed piston 53 slidably arranged within the cylinder, -whereby the piston is moved downwardly when the pin is circumferentially rotated by the cam S and moved downwardly by the helical edge of the slot 52 on the rotation of the ratchet Wheel. The piston and the pin are returned to the normal uppermost positions -thereof by the spring 54 acting upwardly thereon when the pin 51 drops oif the cam.

Within the hollow open top piston plunger 55 which is secured to and is smaller in diameter `than the piston 53 is the spring-pressed valve rod 56 preferably constricted just above its lower end and passing loosely through the opening in the bottom wall of the piston plunger. At the lowermost end of the rod, below the plunger, is the ball valve 58. The rod and -ball thereon are urged downwardly by the spring 59 arranged around the rod. The upper end of the spring Yabuts against the top wall of the piston while the lower end is secured to the rod, the spring expanding until its lower end engages the bottom of the plunger 55, and further expansion of the spring is thereby prevented. The open top of the plunger communicates with the supply pipe 60 communicating with the adhesive container 62 through the exible pipe 61 (FIG. 1). The discharge opening 57 in the bottom of the outer cylinder 34 remains open while the piston is raised and the pin 51 is off the cam 50, which is for about a half revolution of the ratchet wheel in the form shown. Adhesive therefore flows out of the plunger into the bottom part of the outer cylinder Iand past the ball valve through the discharge opening 57 and through the hole in the presser foot on to the fabric which has been inserted between the throat plate and the presser foot.

When the wedge cam engages the pin 51 and moves it circumferentially and downwardly in the slot 52 and thereby lowers the piston 53, plunger 55 and rod 56, the ball valve 58 is lowered into and closes the discharge opening and the flow of adhesive to the fabric is cut off. The adhesive is initially deposited in a relatively narrow line as 63 (FIG. 4) in sucient outward transverse spaced relation to the needle to insure against any adhesive reaching the needle. As the fabric with the adhesive thereon is advanced during the stitching operation past the adhesive passage in the foot and is compressed between the foot and the feed mechanism of the machine, the adhesive is spread or flattened out and forced by the pressure through the interstices of the fabric and around the threads of both sheets. Since the adhesive is applied quite closely to and just in advance of the folder 30, the edge portion of the fabric carrying the adhesive is enclosed in the binding tape 23 immediately after the deposit of the adhesive thereon. The feeding pressure on the work consequently spreads the adhesive on to the inner surface of the tape as the work progresses through the machine, whereby longitudinally spaced apart and widened areas of adhesive are formed. Such areas serve to bind the weft and warp threads of the fabric together at their intersections and also to bind both sheets together as well as securing the sheets to the binding tape.

The line of stitching 24 is made as closely as possible to the edges 64 of the tape to insure substantial clearance between the needle and the areas of adhesive. Further spreading of the adhesive after it passes the needle is advantageous and may occur under the pressure of the feeding mechanism as seen in FIG. 4.

As has been indicated, the trimming knife 11 trims :both sheets 2) and 21 `simultaneously and while said sheets are arranged on opposite sides of the inner unit 22 and while they project therebeyond. The unit tends to force the sheets apart and for that reason are inserted under the front end of the presser foot before trimming fand are held in place by the foot against relative displacement. As the arm 41 is oscillated by the sewing machine mechanism, not only does the knife trim the sheets, but adhesive is deposited on the trimmed sheets, lbinding tape is folded about the trimmed edges, the adhesive is spread to a limited extent insuicient to reach the needle, the tape and sheets are stitched together and the adhesive further spread as the 4sheets are fed past the rear part of the foot, to finish the binding of the article.

While a certain speciic form of the invention has been herein shown and described, various obvious changes may be made therein without -departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a Ventilating spacer Iadapted to have the marginal portions thereof machine-finished by a sewing machine having an adhesive-applying and edge-trimming attachment,

:an inner spacer unit resistant to lateral compression,

a first cover for the upper yface of the unit,

`said cover being of ya coarse open mesh fabric having two intersecting sets of parallel spaced apart threads providing Ventilating openings between the threads,

the openings communicating with the interior of the unit,

la second cover at the under face orf the unit, each of the covers having marginal portions projecting outwardly past the periphery of the unit and terminating in raw edges,

the corresponding raw edges of said portions of the respective covers being in registration with each other, the unit being of greater height than the combined thicknesses of the covers 'and thereby urging the projecting marginal portions of the covers apart throughout the peripheries of the covers, and lmeans for securing the marginal portions of the covers together with the corresponding raw edges thereof in registration and for securing the outermost threads yat said raw edges against rave-ling and against displacement relatively to each other and relatively to the radjacent end portions of the adjacent intersecting set of threads, said means comprising a binding tape having an outermost fold substantially along the longitudinal middle thereof enclosing the registering raw edges of the covers,

the tape having the upper part thereof on the upper face of lthe marginal portion and having the lower part thereof vat the under lface of the marginal portion,

the inner edges or the tape being in substantial transverse spaced relation to and parallel to the fold, `a line of stitching closely adjacent to the inner edges of the tape and passing through the upper and lower parts thereof 'and through the covers, and sutlicient yadhesive arranged between the yline of stitching and the registering raw edges of the covers to coat said outermost threads of the marginal portions of the cover and said adjacent end portions of the adjacent lntersecting set of threads and to enter the openings therebetween at said raw edges. 2. The Ventilating spacer of claim 1, the second cover being of open mesh Ifabric similar to that of the iirst cover and having two intersecting sets of spaced apart threads, the adhesive passing through the openings of the marginal portions of the irst cover and coating the threads in the marginal portions of the second cover :and

thereby securing the marginal .portions of the covers together and securing the threads therein against raveling.

3. In a Ventilating spacer adapted to have the marginal portions thereof machine-finished, by a sewing machine having lan adhesive-applying and edge-trimming attachment,

yan inner spacer unit,

a first cover for the upper face of the unit,

said cover being of `a coarse open mesh fabric the corresponding raw edges of said pori tions of Ithe respective covers being in registration with each other, the unit urging the projecting marginal portions of the covers yapart throughout the peripheries of the covers, and means |for securing the marginal portions of the covers together with the corresponding raw edges-thereof in registration and for securing the outermost threads at said raw 4edges against rave-ling and against dis-V placement relatively to each other and relatively to the adjacent end portions of the adjacent `intersecting set of threads, said means comprising a binding ktape having `an outermost fold `substantially along the middle thereof enclosing the registering raw edges of the covers,

the tape having the upper part thereof on the upper Iface of the marginal portion and having the lower part thereof at the under face of the Inarginal portion, the inner edges of the tape being in substantial transverse spaced relation to and parallel to the fold, a line of stitching closely `adjacent to the inner edges of the tape and passing through the upper and lower parts thereof and through the covers, and sufficient adhesive arranged between the line of stitching and the registering raw ledges of the covers to coat said outermost threads of the marginal portions of the cover and said yadjacent end portions lof the adjacent intersecting Set of threads and to enter the openings therebetween at said raw edges.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,632,005 Hartman June 14, 1927 1,775,793 Wechsler Sept. 16, 1930 2,311,541 Hathaway Feb. 16, 1943 2,406,830 Haman yet al. Sept. 3, l1946 2,550,464 Gleave et al. ---a Apr. 24, 1951 l 2,630,772 Ederer a Mar.,10, 1953 l2,758,532 Awe Aug. 14, 1956 2,791,956 Guest May 14, 1957 2,804,912 Pickard Sept. 3, 1957 2,813,054 Nicholas Nov. 12, 1957 

1. IN A VENTILATING SPACER ADAPTED TO HAVE THE MARGINAL PORTIONS THEREOF MACHINE-FINISHED BY A SEWING MACHINE HAVING AN ADHESIVE-APPLYING AND EDGE-TRIMMING ATTACHMENT, AN INNER SPACER UNIT RESISTANT TO LATERAL COMPRESSION, A FIRST COVER FOR THE UPPER FACE OF THE UNIT, SAID COVER BEING OF A COARSE OPEN MESH FABRIC HAVING TWO INSECTING SETS OF PARALLEL SPACED APART THREADS PROVIDING VENTILATING OPENINGS BETWEEN THE THREADS, THE OPENINGS COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE UNIT, A SECOND COVER AT THE UNDER FACE OF THE UNIT, EACH OF THE COVERS HAVING MARGINAL PORTIONS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY PAST THE PERIPHERY OF THE UNIT AND TERMINATING IN RAW EDGES, THE CORRESPONDING RAW EDGES OF SAID PORTIONS OF THE RESPECTIVE COVERS BEING IN REGISTRATION WITH EACH OTHER, THE UNIT BEING OF GREATER HEIGHT THAN THE COMBINED THICKNESS OF THE COVERS AND THEREBY URGING THE PROJECTING MARGINAL PORTIONS OF THE COVERS APART THROUGHOUT THE PERIPHERIES OF THE COVERS, AND MEANS FOR SECURING THE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF THE COVERS TOGETHER WITH THE CORRESPONDING RAW EDGES THEREOF IN REGISTRATION AND FOR SECURING THE OUTERMOST THREADS 